Icicles outside my window

Winter has set down with full force here in West Michigan. The snow is covering the ground and will probably not melt again until April... or May...

Though I am generally not a fan of the cold winter months, the joy that my roommates have found in the snow is a little bit contagious, I can't lie. I can actually look at the falling snow and think for at least a moment about how pretty it is before I think about the drudgery of shoveling and car scraping! I love having the option of walking to the bus stop to get to work when I want to avoid driving in the snow. And truthfully I'd rather walk outside when it's snowing than when it's raining. It's really not so bad.

I went sledding yesterday for probably the first time since high school as well. I thought I'd be freezing, but I wore 6 layers on top and 3 on the bottom, with hand warmers in my boots, and I was good to go!

So I guess I'll admit it - winter's not that bad. At least not yet :) It is still only January!

2010 Year in Review Collage

As we ring in this new year, I took a minute to go through the past year in photo form and make this collage:

A few highlights of 2010:

- spending time with my siblings in Denver, Grand Rapids, and Indiana

- my City Pres community group

- living alone in my Denver apartment

- Dutch Blitz on the Missouri trip with the family (and other times with cousins)

- Nick and Beth's wedding

- moving back to Grand Rapids

- starting work at Art of the Table

- spending time at my new home with my housemates Rachel and Lauren

- watching Rebecca and Lizzie become national champions on the Calvin volleyball team

- attending documentary night

- my family eating 31 pounds of local, free range turkey for Thanksgiving

I have good people in my life, and I am grateful for them all! Happy New Year!

Calvin Volleyball

Another great reason to be back in Michigan - being around to go to the Calvin volleyball games and cheer on my absolutely stellar cousins! Here's a pic from one of their games last week:


It's so great to be able to support these girls in person! Taylor, during this game I learned I don't know how to take good action shots. Camera lesson sometime soon? k thanks :)

Labor Day

I had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. It's nice to work at a shop that is closed for the holidays, rather than a hotel which is open 24-7. I also appreciate having Sunday off, guaranteed! It's the little things sometimes :)

I spent my Labor Day weekend with both family and friends, first going down to the fantastic little town of Marshall, Michigan for a day at Anna Doud's cottage, and then heading down on Monday to the even littler town of Brookston, Indiana, for a day with my sister and brother-in-law at Camp Tecumseh, the YMCA camp where they live. It was a fun day of sunshine, canoeing, bean bags, and conversation with my siblings, parents, and grandparents. I am grateful to be near this part of the family again and to be able to drive and see them for a day!

Grandpa, Mom, and Dad in their canoe:

















Playing with the macro lens in the grass:

Back in Michigan

I am back in Grand Rapids! Working at Art of the Table, a local shop focused on selling items used for entertaining guests (specializing in items you won't find in larger chain stores) and busy catching up with old friends and family that are around. Today was a fantastic day off: went to the Meijer gardens with my aunt, cousin, and her baby, had friends over to the lake house for dinner, and then went waterskiing and tubing! Finish it all off with a glass of wine from my work place, and life is happy :)

Pictures, of course:

The lake house:



















Meijer Gardens had their Chihuly exhibit showing:




















But of course it's always beautiful there, even when it does rain:




















aaaaand the wine (great glass!):



























UPDATE: It's now 11:30 pm. The rain just started up again. Currently saying praises for the clear weather that allowed our boat time earlier on this most rainy day!

Friends

This are my friends. I am going to be living near them soon. Woot!

New Digs

Whoops! A whole month went by without a post! It's been a busy one though. I moved into a new apartment, and though I didn't move far, I doubled my commute to work. Now instead of a 2 minute walk, it takes about 4 minutes :) Literally, I moved across the street from my old apartment building. I live in my own place now - no roommates! I've never lived alone, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm interested to see how I handle it. So far so good - I'm enjoying my time just for me. Now if only my kitchen sink would work... it doesn't really drain well, and I've been getting the runaround between the landlord and the HOA. It doesn't help that the landlord is currently vacationing in Spain. Just waiting I guess... I got the name of a good plumber from one of my neighbors, so I'm just waiting to hear back from my landlord before calling. It would be nice to do more than one or two dishes without the sink backing up though!

Mom came to Denver to help me move in (i.e. clean!)


She bought me flowers. Isn't she sweet?

Sister lovin'

My sisters are quickly becoming some of the most important people in my life. They are always there for me with listening ears and understanding words. They know where I've been, and they have insight into who I am and where I'm going. They say a sister is a forever friend... well, for me and my sisters, that's so true. So here's a shout out to sisterhood. Love your siblings, cause that's a friend that's always around :)

Today

i love sun :)

A beautiful Denver spring

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day in Denver. Let me brag, just a little:

- I went skiing at A-basin. There was fresh powder. It was cold, but lovely.
- Then I came home and went for a bike ride
- to meet Pastor Sam at the Lime for a margarita and a chat about life.

Three of my favorite things: skiing, biking, and community.
And a fourth: tequila.
What a great city.

Scrabble

I love word games. I really do. My family has always been addicted to scrabble, and now we love Quiddler as well (a word game with cards. If you've never played you should). Well, I was reading through the BBC the other day on my Google reader, and found that Mattel has decided to change the rules of Scrabble to add proper nouns! (check out the article here) I was excited - I'm always finding names and places I want to play, but am not able to! Of course, I e-mailed the article to my family - I can't have them all quibble next time I want to play a proper noun. And they all reject it! They like the old rules; and I always thought I was the traditionalist in the family! Come on guys... this is a good change!

Oh well - I guess I'll have to suffer through the old rules.

Here's a picture of Quiddler. Like I said, if you haven't tried it, you should. It may be telling, though, that my sisters and I rarely are all together, and when we do have a morning together as Renee flies through Denver to a vacation with her college friends, this is what we end up doing :)

Community Group

One of the things I appreciate most about Denver has been my involvement in my community group through City Pres Church this year. Our community group is 12-14 individuals who meet together weekly for Bible study and prayer, and once a month just get together for a "social" to eat and chat and hang out, getting to know one another better. The neat thing is that our groups are not formed based on age, demographic, or common interest, but rather on neighborhood. This is a loose association, since when people move they often stay in the same group (once you've gotten to know people for a year or two, you don't want to leave them!) but basically it is people who all live near each other. My group, for example, has a 23-year-old recently married couple, a couple with 2 kids, and a single guy in his upper 50's (or so... i've never asked). And all sorts in between, both single and married. This, I feel, gives me a sense of true community. I'm not just talking to these people because we are at the same place in life or because we have so much in common, but because we are brothers and sisters in Christ we work together, from our different backgrounds, Biblical knowledge levels, and current life situations to learn and grow together. We pray and we care for each other, and it ends up being not because we have to, but because we want to.

A few weeks ago my friend Katie Sytsema visited on one of our social nights. I had described the variety of the group to her, and she went expecting a bit of awkwardness, since we didn't come together because of commonalities we have. Her overwhelming impression was one of love and acceptance. Though we are not the same, we realize we all come together in the end for the same goal: to be in community with fellow Christians in a city where those can be hard to find sometimes :) No matter where life brings me, I will always have fond memories in my heart of the people I have gotten to know this past year in community group.

I was excited to fill this out...

Yup, I'm that much of a geek :)



but it's like becoming a part of history, right?

And I thought the Midwest had crazy weather

Yesterday, 60 degrees and sunny (i wore my chacos):


Today, 28 degrees and snowing heavily:


(this is a building across the street from my house - i wanted to compare views of the capitol, which is only 4 blocks from my house, but it's snowing so hard you can't see it today)

Carmen's Cafe

I discovered a new coffee shop yesterday, literally across the street from my apartment building. It has a fabulous front porch, perfect for soaking up the 60 degrees and sunshine we've been enjoying the past two days (i'm not yet able to believe that snow is in the forecast for tonight...) They've been open for two months I guess, and just introduced food to their menu yesterday. I chatted with the building owner today - there's talk of introducing a farmer's market and a concert series in the parking lot, and a BYOB club so they don't have to get a liquor license. They've already invested in a bocce ball set for enjoyment on the front lawn. I think I'm gonna like this place :) There's even a pot dispensary in the basement - tee hee :) just kidding mom and dad! (not about the marijuana, just about my enjoyment of it) The mansion (yes, mansion) it's located in is ENORMOUS and BEAUTIFUL. and yes, it does deserve all caps. It was built in 1887, and they just don't make houses like that anymore. it's almost too bad it's an office building now. It would be such an amazing place to live, if I could ever afford a place like that! I took pics:

The outside of the mansion -

Enjoying spring weather -

Step by Step

As one who now lives life without a car, I have discovered my preferred mode of transportation, particularly in the winter, is my feet. Don't get me wrong, the bus is fantastic. Staying warm for long distances and getting to read a good book while I travel? Yes please. And I still love my bicycle. I love the option to go faster and travel light. But when I climb a hill on foot, I don't get out of breath. And I do live at the top of Capitol Hill (my neighborhood gets it name for a reason!) When I walk, the cold wind does not whip at my face and my ears with bitter force, screaming at me to "be a normal person and get a car!" And when I carry my groceries by foot I do not fear the bags getting caught in the wheel spokes and turning me over into the path of a coming vehicle :)

Now walking everywhere is not always the most ideal form of transportation. Some places are just too far. Sometimes I just don't have time. Sometimes I need to purchase more than I can carry. And sometimes it's still just too cold outside. Walking takes effort and prior planning. I can't "quick run" to the store to pick up something I forgot, unless I'm willing to go to Tony's Market and pay a little more than I would at King Soopers. I am appreciative of my friends with cars who help me out when I need it, and appreciative of eGo CarShare, my "peace of mind" for when I just need to get somewhere with a car.

But some days, walking gives me the greatest joy. I notice the berries on the bush and the detail on the old historic building. I get to enjoy the early morning sunshine on my way to church. I feel fresh and alive rather than stuck in a steel trap rolling down the road, able to ignore the beauty and humanity that abounds on the sidewalks of town. And I never have to worry about downtown parking!

And sometimes, when I walk I take a new path and find neat gems, like this-

my newest time waster

www.mylifeisaverage.com

So funny. Love it.


Check it out.

Once every 6 months?

Well folks, life stays steady in Denver. Job is going well. A lot of new employees at the hotel, which makes things interesting...I've been getting involved in some of the training and taking more of a leadership role, since having been there for a year I have gained quite a bit of seniority!

Life has been teaching me a lot about relationships through the past year in Denver. Without the school relationships to build friendships from, I've been learning the value of making the most of small conversations, and planning coffee dates! I think I took all the "hanging out" time in college for granted. I am so grateful to have a church community to be connected with and to find friends through. I just can't imagine myself finding lasting friendships through the bar scene! I still have a lot to learn about what it means to build a true community, but we take baby steps, and that is how we learn. My current goals are to get beneath the surface level in every conversation by truly listening and asking relevant questions. I knew some friends at Calvin who were fabulous at that... I want to learn from their example!

I'm going to visit friends and family in the Midwest next weekend. Stoked to finally meet my brother's girlfriend! And to see my cousin in his high school production of Beauty and the Beast :)

I don't come on here very often anymore, but i got a new camera, and took lots of pictures the past few days :) a few of my favs:

State Capitol-
My favorite place, the Denver Public Library -



Me, the photog -


P.S. I'm gonna try to get back into this... let's see what happens...

"epic"

It is very rare with my job that I actually get a Saturday off, so when that occurred this past weekend I definitely made the most of it!

First off, I hiked my very first 2 14ers. For those of you not hip with the Colorado lingo, a 14er is a mountain that is higher than 14,000 feet above sea level. There are 58 14ers in Colorado. I hiked Grays and Torres, 2 14ers that are connected by a small saddle in between them. The hike went well. I went with Joel Baker, a friend from Calvin, and his older sister Ginni who moved out to Denver with my sister Sara. Ginni and Joel are both much faster hikers than I am, but since the trail was crowded, I did not feel "left behind". They would pause and wait for me at intervals on the way up too! The day was, as one of our fellow hikers put it, "epic". Not a cloud in the sky, the weather was perfect. I felt good after the hike - the altitude made my heart beat faster and faster as I climbed, and the way down was WAY longer than I felt it should be, but I'm so proud of myself for this accomplishment!

After the hike we stopped at Beau Jos for some great Colorado pizza. When I got back to Denver I was exhausted, but had a message that my sister and her fiancee were going to meet my brother and his friends for dinner. My brother had been in Denver from Chicago for about a week and I hadn't seen him yet, so I took a quick shower and met them. Turns out my brother's friend had an extra ticket to the Cubs/Rockies game that night, so I ended up joining them. What a great game it was! It was the only good Cubs game of the series, and it definitely made up for the horrible baseball that the Cubs had played while I was at the game Friday night. (Nothing can easily make up for Sunday and Monday's horrible games, but at least I wasn't sitting through them at the field.) The game Saturday was made all the more fun by the abundance of Cubs fans in the seats. At the end of the game we were able to sing "Hey Chicago, whadda say, the Cubs are gonna win today. Go Cubs go!" at the top of our lungs. It was such a great Cubs moment! Cubs fans are some of my favorite people ever :)

Now this week the family has begun arriving in town. My sister Sara gets married on Saturday here in Denver. Good times!

Life is an adventure (and an exciting one at that!)

I'm getting better these days at making life about more than just work. I do enjoy my work, but 40 hours a week should not define your whole life! I have fallen into a constant schedule the past few weeks. I've been working the 3-11 shift, but I've been getting better at waking up at 9 or 10 to get the day started before I have to go to work! Though without many friends who are free on weekday mornings, I have done some exploring without going too far from home :) My roommate Rachel and I both bought summer passes to Elitch Gardens, the downtown amusement and water park, so we've been there 3 times already! It's nice to just go for a few hours before or after work. Last Saturday morning was free day at the Denver Art Museum, so Rachel and I went there for the morning! Then at church Sunday I ran into my college friend Joel Baker. He's in Denver for the month of August and unemployed, so last night I called him and we ended up going for a bike ride on the Platte River trail this morning! It's so nice to have such a productive and enjoyable day even before I have to get going to work! Ginni, Joel, and I all went out for lunch after our bike ride. Even when I can't hang out at night, there are still people I can spend my days with, and it's nice to find more of those people!

I am looking forward to having my family in town for my sister's wedding in a week and a half. That will definitely keep me busy! Sara and I get together to do wedding things (make invitations, programs, etc.) usually about one morning a week. Just one more way to stay busy, and it's nice to have the time with my sister too! The summer is just going by so quickly. I can't believe it's August already. Luckily, I may get to hike a 14er yet... Joel and Ginni are planning a trip sometime soon - maybe this Saturday? I hope so! This will be my first Saturday off in a long time, and what a great way that would be to spend it! Also this weekend - Cubs game Friday night at Coors Field! Whoo hoo - I can't wait!